BEDALE is to be added to a council's network of CCTV cameras.

Hambleton District Council cabinet approved three fixed cameras for the town after it heard that crime figures warranted the move. Two will cover Market Place and North End and the third will monitor the Bridge Street car park.

Councillors agreed that cameras for Great Ayton and Easingwold were not a priority at present, and there will be no expansion of the scheme covering Thirsk.

The council operates 46 cameras covering Northallerton, Thirsk and Stokesley, monitored from a control room in Northallerton civic centre. They are backed by two mobile cameras, owned by Hambleton Community Safety Partnership, which can be taken to troublespots to monitor anti-social behaviour.

Plans to extend the fixed camera scheme were shelved after the Government capped the authority's council tax rise last year.

Councillor John Smith, cabinet member for safety, said: "The district council has a policy, where possible, to monitor market town centres and car parks and the areas which connect them.

"When the authority was capped, our plans to expand CCTV schemes were put on the back-burner while we looked at the financial situation. We now find ourselves able to approve some expansion, but feel that only the crime statistics for Bedale warrant consideration at the moment."

He said that between April and July, there were 28 incidents in Bedale reported to police in the areas that the cameras would monitor.

The cameras are expected to be installed before the summer.

Bedale Mayor Councillor Malcolm Young said: "I am highly delighted.

"The town council has been campaigning for cameras on a regular basis for some time."